Hasta La Gadget!

It’s more than a little crazy to think about, but a 0.07-second power disruption in Japan yesterday may have just caused as much as a 20 percent drop in chip shipments from Toshiba. The root of the problem is that the backup system at Toshiba’s Yokkaichi memory chip plant failed to kick in because the brief drop in voltage was more severe than the system was designed for, which has not only forced the plant to halt production until Friday, but may have caused irreparable damage to scores of chips in production at the time of the outage. As The Wall Street Journal reports, it’s still not clear exactly how much damage was caused, but if, for instance, the systems controlling the so-called clean room were shut off, all chips inside would likely be ruined. The good news, such as it is, is that there isn’t likely to be a worldwide shortage as a result of the outage — Toshiba plans to adjust their output accordingly early next year, and it notes that demand is usually slow in January and February anyway following the holiday shopping season.

Split second power outage may lead to drop in Toshiba chip shipments originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Dec 2010 13:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When it comes to GPU and CPU releases, there are quantum leaps, and then there are baby steps. Based on the web’s collective views on AMD’s newest slab of silicon — the Phenom II X6 1100T — it seems as if this chip is a better example of the latter. According to TechSpot, the device “does little to improve upon the performance of AMD’s hexa-core CPU series, [but] it does help improve the value of these high-end desktop processors by making the 1090T BE model even cheaper.” By and large, that sentiment was mirrored throughout. Hot Hardware found that while it was easily “the fastest desktop processor released from AMD to date,” it still couldn’t topple Intel’s (admittedly more expensive) six-core chips in terms of performance. But of course, AMD rarely competes strictly on benchmarks — the 1100T lists for just $265, making it one of the more affordable desktop CPU options for this level of oomph. Those really looking for a bargain could snap up the now-deflated 1090T or 1075T, and while the bulk of the reviews below focus primarily on today’s new flagship, the 3.4GHz Phenom II X2 565 Black Edition ($115) and 3.3GHz Athlon II X3 455 ($87) are also touched on.

Read – AnandTech
Read – Hot Hardware
Read – TechSpot
Read – HardOCP
Read – Firing Squad
Read – Hexus
Read – Legit Reviews
Read – PC Perspective

Phenom II X6 1100T review roundup: AMD’s fastest desktop processor to date originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Dec 2010 20:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We know it’s a little tough to get excited about a chip, even if that chip is the hotly anticipated Samsung Orion. Still, bear with us, because this isn’t your average slab of cellphone silicon — the Orion’s got a dual-core 1GHz ARM Cortex-A9 CPU and a quad-core Mali 400 GPU on board. We spotted it at the ARM Technology Conference this week where it was pimping “Linaro” Linux middleware, as well as some stock Android 2.2. Unfortunately, the development boards still have a few kinks, so representatives couldn’t show it pumping all those pixels to nearby HDTVs — though we did get a butter-smooth demo of Futuremark’s old Cyber Samurai benchmark running on the smaller screen. There are still rumors of this chip hitting some products late this year, but next year is much more likely. Either way, we’re expecting some pretty impressive benchmarks from this thing when it inevitably winds up in the next Galaxy Tab or a flagship phone of some sort.

Samsung Orion dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 chip spotted in the wild originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 23:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There isn’t much to say here, so let’s just get on with the facts: Intel, Samsung, and Toshiba are joining forces and pooling R&D efforts in a consortium funded in part by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (an expected 50 percent, or 5 billion yen / US $62 million) and the rest from the members. The goal? Semiconductor chips nearing 10nm by 2016. Ten more companies are expected to be invited once things get sorted out, so major chip-related corporations, please keep checking your mailboxes daily.

Intel, Samsung, Toshiba form consortium aiming for 10nm chips by 2016 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Oct 2010 09:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It may be a cheaper way to join the high-end Core i7 family, but that doesn’t mean it’s “cheap.” Intel’s Core i7-970 ($899), which just started shipping to consumers around a month ago, has just undergone a thorough looking-over at Hot Hardware, where the six-core chip was tested alongside its more potent (and in turn, more costly) siblings. If you’ve no interest in dropping over a grand for a Core i7-980X, and you aren’t about to lower yourself by purchasing a quad-core Core i7-975, this here chip might just do you proud. In testing, critics found the 970 to be quick, but hardly mind-blowing, when handling more mundane tasks; stir in a few heavily threaded applications, though, and it managed to “sail past” the quad-core contemporaries and “keep pace” with the aforementioned 980X. All told, the silicon managed to perform around 5 percent worse than the 980X, yet it rings up for around 12 percent less. If you’ve got the workflow to truly take advantage of all six cores, and you can stomach not having the absolute best, it seems as if the 970 strikes a fine balance — and hey, if you’re down with overclocking, you can probably get that 5 percent back with just a mild uptick in your energy bill.

Intel’s Core i7-970 gets reviewed: great for overclocking, still expensive originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 13:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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